MBTA & Amtrak

On January 31st, Bob LaMay and I made our annual trek to the Mystic Valley Railway Society’s 2010 Calendar Judging Luncheon up in Dedham, MA.  Like each year before, we brought our cameras along and did a bit of railfanning before and after the luncheon.  The only downside of the luncheon this year is it was held in a place with no bar…we usually like to have a couple beers while watching the slideshow of entries vying for the 14 spots on the calendar.  But to make up for it, we caught 4 trains around the slideshow.

On the way up we decided our first stop would be the Mansfield, MA MBTA station.  We were making good time, and had about 20 minutes of extra time, so hopefully we would come across a couple trains on the bitterly cold day.

After getting our gear, and donning our hats & gloves, we made our way to the platform.  To start off, I got a shot of one of the warning signs on the fence between the tracks.

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Not more than a minute later, the automated voice began repeating “Train Approaching…please stand behind the yellow line…”  A quick look to the south showed headlights in the distance.

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Then an Amtrak Northeast Regional came speeding into view at track speed (near 125MPH!)

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Obviously they weren’t making a station stop!

Not a bad start.  Just then, we noticed people starting to make their way to the other track.  Our guess was that there was another train due any time now seeing that it wasn’t exactly a day to be standing by the tracks, like we were.

A few minutes later, an outbound MBTA train came into view.

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And made a station stop to pick up the waiting passengers.

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As they pulled out, I took a couple longer exposure shots, getting the train to blur past the warning signs on the fence.

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And a final going away shot as the train rolled into the cold

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Looking at the watch, it was close to time to head out so we could make it to the judging luncheon.  So we headed for the warmth of the car, and made our way to Dedham.

After a few hours of lunch and watching the nearly 130 entries (the gamut of entries ran from the really good to the really not good), we headed out.  With plenty of daylight remaining, we made a stop at the Canton Junction MBTA station to see what we came across.

Just as we got to the platform, and were surveying the scene, that automated voice came on again, warning us of an approaching train.  Bob spotted an Acela heading towards us, and since we weren’t in an ideal location, I opted for the wide angle setup, and used Bob as an anchor to the shot.

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After that, he stayed put on that track, and I headed to the next track over.  While scoping out the angles, Bob checked the schedule and noted that we had one MBTA due in about 5 minutes.  So we picked our spots.  A few minutes later, the train came into view as it came off of the Canton Viaduct

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Then pulled into the station to discharge and pick up passengers under the watchful eye of one of the MBTA conductors.

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With everyone aboard, the conductors gave the OK to go to the engineer, and they pulled out of the station.

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Then finally a pair of shots as the train accelerated out of the station.

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At that point, we were both frozen to the bone, so we headed for the car, packed the gear away, and headed for the nearest Dunkin’ Donuts.  Luckily we were still in Massachusetts, there seems to be a DD ever 75 feet in the Commonwealth.  Heh…

Thanks for looking!
Tom